60 CBRE Employees Volunteer with Us

On August 24th, we partnered with more than 60 volunteers from CBRE to provide repairs for three low-income homeowners in South Minneapolis.  One of the homeowners we helped, Sue, lives with mobility issues.  Sue inherited her home from her mother and does not have the resources to make the repairs needed for her to continue to live safely and independently in the home. Sue has spent her life giving back through teaching, leading drama groups and working with youth as a self-esteem coach, and now, CBRE has been able to give back to Sue by repairing her home.  Volunteers installed low-rise steps, repaired gutters, and painted the living room. With the generous support from CBRE, we were also able to hire a contractor to repair a retaining wall and upgrade the electrical throughout the house.

We also helped Barbara, who has lived in the same home since 1972.  She raised six children in her home and now enjoys time with her grandchildren. After having her leg amputated six years ago, Barbara has to rely solely on others to do everyday tasks that have now become dangerous for her to complete. Her home did not have a full bathroom on the main floor, which forced her to depend on her son and prevented her from living an independent life. She takes pride in her Chippewa heritage and is close to her family.  Volunteers replaced carpeting in the living room with vinyl flooring, painted the interior of the home, and repaired the ramp leading into the house. A contractor will also create an accessible bathroom on the first floor of the home.

Volunteers also worked at Beulah’s home. She has lived in her home for over 40 years and as a single mother she raised her own, now grown, children and fostered many other children throughout her life. She is raising her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and hopes to be able to stay in her home for many more years. Beulah’s home had the original windows, causing heating and cooling bills to skyrocket year-round. CBRE volunteers partnered with us to replace 14 new windows throughout the home.

We are grateful for the support of CBRE and the hard work of their volunteers.  We look forward to continuing this partnership!

CBRE Helps Three North Minneapolis Families

In September, we partnered with volunteers from CBRE to help three homeowners in need in North Minneapolis.  One of the homeowners we helped was Bertha, who has lived in her home for 25 years. In addition to raising her four children in her home, Bertha has offered her heart and home to foster kids, recalling fond memories with all of them. Currently, Bertha is raising three foster kids, a young girl and her two brothers.  She proudly remains physically active by attending activities such as Zumba at the YMCA.  Despite her physical activity, arthritis in her knees and back are now actively disrupting activities of daily living.  Her home had leaning, steep concrete stairs outside, which were challenging for her to navigate, especially when carrying groceries or with heavy snow.  The volunteers installed low-rise, elongated steps to help make it easier and safer for her to get in and out of her home.  They also installed grab bars in her bathroom to help Bertha get in and out of the shower more safely. The repairs and accessibility modifications made by the CBRE volunteers will have a tremendous impact on Bertha’s life as well as the lives she continues to touch.

Thank you to CBRE for your continued support of our efforts to help homeowners in need in the Twin Cities!

CBRE Makes Repairs for Two South Minneapolis Homeowners

Rebuilding Together Twin Cities partnered with 70 volunteers from CBRE this week to make repairs for two South Minneapolis homeowners, including Natoya, a single mother of three young children.  Volunteers built a privacy fence so that Natoya’s children can safely use their yard for exercise and to play outdoors and made other interior and exterior repairs.  In her thank you note to the volunteers, Natoya wrote, “Thank you for creating a safe environment for my family!”

These projects and others completed across the country are part of CBRE’s BuildMonth.  Thank you to CBRE for their commitment to helping homeowners and communities in need and to the awesome volunteer team for their hard work!

CB Richard Ellis Revitalizes Full Cycle Bicycle Shop

More than 80 volunteers from CB Richard Ellis joined us to make improvements to the Pillsbury United Communities Full Cycle Bicycle Shop in South Minneapolis on September 20th.  The Shop provides internship opportunities for homeless and street-dependent youth to gain the skills and confidence they need to become independent.  Volunteers spent the day building and painting work benches, creating a green space in the back for the interns to take a break and eat lunch, painting the interior of the shop and office, and building a bin for recycling tires.  Council Member Elizabeth Glidden and Rebecca Lucero, a representative from Congressman Keith Ellison’s office, also stopped by to visit with volunteers and tour the project.

Matt Tennant, founder and Director of Full Cycle, thanked the CB Richard Ellis team and Rebuilding Together Twin Cities, writing “What an amazing day!  I can’t thank you guys enough for what you were able to do to help us out at Full Cycle.  Our staff and the young folks we work with are very proud of that space and the awesome work and relationships that happen there.  We all thank you for making it better!”

This project was part of CBRE Cares, a national corporate philanthropy program, and more than 20 CB Richard Ellis offices nationwide participated in rebuilding projects last month.  Thank you to CB Richard Ellis for partnering with us on this project!